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Here is the spring update of the Top 10 Wisconsin Freshmen (Class of 2019). There was a lot of movement in this list as it was a lot easier to judge each of these wrestlers after they went through the grind of a full hight school season. There are numerous contenders for the 1 spot and in our mind none of them really have started to pull away from the field. If you shuffled the top five there would be very little argument.

10. Josh Otto D1 152 (Arrowhead) Previous: 5
Otto moves after his fist high school season which saw him spend the most time at 138, then bump to 152 for the State series as his teammates dropped down. Despite the bump he still qualified for State, going 0-2. Since high school season ended Josh has been active winning Dominate in the Dells and placing at USAW Folkstyle Nationals. While Otto did fall significantly, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him make a big jump in the next year.

9. Jon Bailey D1 106 (Sparta) Previous: 2
Another wrestler who ended up taking a big drop. Not really because he had a bad season, but because some others had a better season. Bailey ended up 4th in the WIAA State tournament, losing in OT to Dentino (Arrowhead) in the semis and then to childhood foe Eric Barnett (Hortonville) in the 3rd place match. Hopefully we will see Jon wrestle a lot in the spring/summer.

8. Macey Kilty D3 106 (Stratford) Previous: 7
Kilty was on the verge of making history as the first female to win a WIAA State title, but Ryan Anderson (Clear Lake) would score a few turns and foil her attempt. Despite the loss Kilty had an outstanding season capped with a girls National title at both the Cadet and Junior level, Macey will be a force for years to come.

7. Eric Bauer D2 120 (Kewaskum) Previous: UR (UnRated)
Bauer had a breakout season; lost only two matches all year and made it to the State finals where he came up short against a very tough Paul Bianchi. Eric scored high level wins including a 3-0 shutout over Cody Vogel (East Troy) in the Sectionals finals. It should be interesting if Bauer meets up with Aaron Bahr next year, someone whom he struggled with in youth wrestling but outplaced at State.

6. Joey Bianchi D2 106 (Two Rivers) Previous: UR
Bianchi had a tough start to the season; mainly due to the tough schedule Two Rivers wrestles, but nevertheless came on strong as the season progressed. His strong finish included wins over eventual State Champion Bryce Bosman (Luxemburg-Casco) at Regionals and Sectionals before falling in the tiebreaker to Bosman in the WIAA State finals. Although he took some losses, Bianchi had an awesome season, look for him to continue to make big improvements before next year.

5. Kevin Meicher D2 126 (Middleton) Previous: UR
Another wrestler that we kind of missed the boat on! Meicher had good results as an 8th grader, but nothing that would have pointed to this kind of breakout season that he had. Meicher took only three losses, one an injury default and the others to twice State champions Jeremy Schoenherr (Stratford) and Sam Stuhl (Ellsworth). Meicher capped his season with a 9-8 win over a very tough defending State champion Justin Folley (Wauwatosa).

4. Drew Hennessy D3 170 (Iowa Grant-Highland) Previous: 6
We knew coming into this year that Hennessy was good, but with a lack of significant challenges as an 8th grader we didn’t know exactly how good. Although he took a few lumps early Drew really came through when it counted in Madison. Hennessey ended up 2nd place after pinning returning State Champion Micah Johnson (Boyceville) in the semifinals. Hopefully he is as active this summer as he has been in the past.

3. Bryce Bosman D2 106 (Luxemburg-Casco) Previous: UR
Bosman was another wrestler that battled a very tough schedule all season and peaked at the right time. Despite losing to 6 Bianchi (Two Rivers) at both Regionals and Sectionals Bosman came through and got revenge in the State finals. I highly doubt we have seen the last of this rivalry!

2. Eric Barnett D1 106 (Hortonville) – Previous: 1
In the preseason we speculated as to how Barnett would do at 106, up from wrestling 90lbs last year. In fact he had a spectacular season culminating with a 3rd place finish at State, his lone loss coming to eventual State champion Brady Koontz (Stevens Point) 1-0 in the semis. He also continued his National level success with a 5th place finish at USAW folkstyle Nationals.

1. Brock Slough D3 138 (Boyceville) Previous: 3
Schlough followed an outstanding 8th grade campaign with an even better freshman season endeding with a State title (1 of only 3 freshman, Bosman and Meicher were the others). Even more impressive was his level of dominance at the State tournament where he didn’t have a match closer than 5 points!

Hope you enjoyed the Freshmen Top 10, please post comments on the Forum and we will have the Sophomores for you next week!